


Christmas Party

by UnicornAffair



Series: Ranger Holiday One Shots [2]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 13:19:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17002407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: Jason’s ex had moved onto someone new, he couldn’t come to the Christmas party without a date. Only...he wasn’t seeing anyone. Thankfully Trini had come up with the best idea, take his best friend Zack as his date.





	Christmas Party

**Author's Note:**

> Day two of Christmas fun! This ones going to be a Zason fic! 
> 
> (I’m posting from my phone so my message will be short.)
> 
> Enjoy!!

Life lesson number one. Don’t date a coworker, because if it  _ didn’t  _ work out; well...it led to a lot of uncomfortable situations. Jason heard through the grapevine that his ex-boyfriend Tommy would be bringing his  _ new _ girlfriend to the Christmas party. As police officers, they didn’t get many chances to dress up, and party. Still, some had to work that night but to the lucky ones they could go party in style to the gala the mayor puts on every year to celebrate the men and women who protect and serve the community. 

“I shouldn’t even go” Jason sat at the local bar, it had been a  _ long  _ day and he and his partner Trini deserved a cold beer to unwind, “It’s going to be awkward”

“You shouldn’t let Tommy Oliver ruin a good time” Trini shook her head, she had her sights on one of the detectives on the force and she was hoping this would be her chance to finally ask the girl out. Clearly she was willing to risk dating a coworker, at least she was in a different department. Trini, Tommy and Jason were all beat cops, the ones on the front lines, “Why don’t you bring a date? Show him that  _ you  _ moved on”

“Who am I going to bring? The gala is  _ tomorrow”  _ Jason shook his head, taking a swig of his beer. “I’m not dating  _ anyone  _ right now”

“Who says anything about  _ actually  _ dating?” Trini tilted her head to the side, a dangerous smirk played on her face, “Hey if I wasn’t out, I’d  _ gladly  _ be your girlfriend.” After the break up, Trini stayed loyal to Jason, she would love the opportunity to make Tommy squirm. 

“Appreciated” The thought was nice, but Jason didn’t want to garner the reputation of dating his  _ partner,  _ or going through the department looking for love.

“Gomez! Scott!” One of Angel Grove’s finest firefighters entered the bar. Zack Taylor’s excitement sky rocketed upon seeing his best friends. He was quick to come over and clamp a hand on either of their shoulders, “Yo barkeep, I’ll have what they’re having” 

Jason waited until Zack plopped down in the seat next to him before asking the question, “Save a lot of cats today?” Firefighters and police officers were quick to tease each other every chance they got. Brothers in arms but as competitive as ever. Especially during softball season.

Zack took the joke in stride, he was all too used to that tired material, “Mm not a cat today, but a dog.”

Trini was quick to notice the way Jason looked down at his drink, a small subtle smile didn’t go overlooked….hmm...she wondered. “Hey Zack, you have a date for the gala?” 

The firefighter shook his head, “Nope, thanks for the reminder that I’m not seeing anyone” 

Jason on the other hand knew exactly what Trini was going to ask next, he turned to her his blue eyes wide. He shook his head no, pleading for her not to put Zack in a potentially awkward situation. Trini simply grinned, this would be a  _ great  _ Christmas present for her partner. “How would you feel about going as Jason’s date?” Jason looked like he wanted to  _ die.  _ Trini knew her best friend well, that boy was going to sit and mope around if she didn’t step in. She was quick to add, “Tommy has a new girlfriend”

“Oh!” Zack’s grin was far too dangerous, he was going to have  _ fun  _ with this one. He understood exactly what Trini was implying, “A chance to mess with TO? Count me in” His smile softened as he rested a hand on Jason’s shoulder, “I’d be honored to be your fake boyfriend” 

Merry Christmas Jason, have fun with those fake boyfriend firefighter abs. 

*****

Like every other year, the gala took place at old city hall. A building with Greek architecture on the outside and tall ceilings on the inside. The place had been decorated to the nines for the holiday gala. A giant tree sat at the back of the room with presents for donations underneath. White lights strung along the ceiling for extra ambiance. 

A black tie party meant that everyone stepped up their game as far as a dress code went. Jason thought that Zack was attractive as hell in just a plain white t-shirt with pizza stains...boy was he going to have a long night seeing his best friend in a suit. Zack has taken the role of fake boyfriend into stride immediately, commenting on Jason’s recently shaved face. 

“Let’s have some fun” Zack linked his arm with Jason to signify that they would be  _ together,  _ for the event. This was a party after all, and Zack was in no position to turn down free food and drink provided by the politicians. 

The men were quick to find their best friend Trini, she was at the bar talking up with one of the other female cops. Elizabeth Delgado and Trini Gomez were  _ far  _ too similar, right down to their current taste in women. Delgado’s date to the event was her longtime girlfriend, Sydney Drew, a beautiful blonde hairstylist. She wore a beautiful pink dress to offset Elizabeth’s suit. Jason and Zack weren’t surprised to see Trini wearing a suit as well, these two were peas in a pod.

Elizabeth was the first to comment at how  _ close _ Jason and Zack were, “S’about time you two hooked up” She smirked into her bottle of beer. “You remember Jason right?” Elizabeth turned her attention to her girlfriend beside her, wanting to make her feel included in this tight circle. With a job like this, life or death situations...they weren’t  _ co-workers... _ they were a  _ family.  _ “And this is Zack”

“Jason’s boyfriend” He introduced himself proudly, reaching out to shake the blonde’s hand. “I’m with the AGFD” he further explained, as he wasn’t directly a part of this group.

“What’s with her?” Jason asked, nodding in Trini’s direction. The smaller woman barely greeted them in favor of focusing on her drink. “Gomez?”

“She’s mustering up the courage to make a move on Moran” Elizabeth nodded her head in the direction of some of the detectives that had gathered around. Gia Moran wasn’t hard to spot. A stunningly gorgeous blonde in a golden-yellow gown stood, laughing and joking with three men in her department. She was completely out of Trini’s league to say the least. 

“Do you want us to soften her up?” Zack asked, confident in his skills as a wingman. After all, he was the one that got Tommy and Jason together in the first place...something he wound up regretting down the line. 

“God, don’t even” Trini finally spoke, but two could play at this game. She was the one to arrange this fake dating scenario, the least Jason and Zack could do is help the girl get laid.

“Yeah, we’re going to go chat” Jason smiled politely at Elizabeth and her girlfriend, “Enjoy the rest of your night”  

He and Zack walked in the direction of the detectives. Gia Moran was currently chatting up fellow detectives Jake Holling, Troy Burrows and Orion Silvers, it wouldn’t be easy to break into a closed circle. Jason and Zack would have to work some kind of magic. 

It didn’t matter at the end of the day, as they were spotted by Tommy Oliver. The thing about these social events were the chances of bumping into someone you  _ didn’t  _ want to see were extremely high. “Jason, hey” it was easy for the one to have moved onto a new girlfriend to be the first one to make a move. “There’s someone I want you to meet”  _ Really?  _

Zack’s eyes widened upon recognizing the beautiful woman on Tommy’s arm. “You’re Kimberly Hart” He blinked, the famous Angel Grove news reporter was here in the flesh. She even wore her signature pink...how in the hell did Tommy Oliver score  _ Kimberly Hart?  _

“I am” She laughed, having grown used to the surprise in Tommy’s co-workers. The local celebrity held out her hand for Zack to shake, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name”

“I’m Zack Taylor, AGFD” He glanced over to Jason and made a quick little adjustment to their little ruse, “I guess I should start getting used to introducing myself as Taylor-Scott” Zack chuckled, “I’m Jase’s fiancé”

Jason was absolutely dumbstruck by Zack dropping the  _ f-word.  _ Fiancé!? They only agreed to be fake boyfriends. Tommy’s smile dropped, he was all too smug to introduce his new hot girlfriend only for his ex-boyfriend to move on so fast, so far with someone else. 

“Oh congratulations” Kimberly must not have known much of her boyfriends past to understand how awkward of a situation this was. Her heart capturing smile grew at the news, “I’m so impressed with our police department and how LGBT friendly they are” 

“Yeah it’s...great…” Jason slowly nodded, Zack was  _ much  _ better at doing the talking and keeping up with their little ruse. How the hell were they going to get out of this fake engagement? 

“I didn’t realize you guys were that close…” Tommy trailed off, he knew that Jason and Zack were best friends sure. But best friends were far different than  _ dating  _ or  _ engagement.  _ “Um” He had to shake off the thoughts and doubts in his head, be the bigger man. He had  _ Kimberly Hart  _ on his arm after all, he’d be taking  _ her  _ home tonight. “That’s really awesome you guys” 

“It was pretty quick, yeah” Zack nodded his head, obviously coming up with this kind of thing on the fly, “But he knew I was the one, and with my mom being so sick...well, I wanted her to be alive to see me get married” That actually wasn’t bad, “This was right for us” Jason rested a hand on Zack’s back, this time it  _ wasn’t  _ for show. He knew how much his mother meant to the other man, how important it was for her to see him off and rest knowing someone out there was caring for her son. 

Tommy looked to Jason, their past was in the past, and at his core he still cared for the other man. He wanted Jason to find happiness, even if it wasn’t with  _ him.  _ “Congratulations” 

“Oh shit” Kimberly suddenly ducked her head down, ever so slightly, “I’m sorry, I’ve been dodging councilman Alpha all night. That guy is a walking chatterbox and all I want to do is  _ enjoy  _ a party for a change” 

“We’ll catch up later” Zack was a bit relieved that the  _ other  _ couple was the first to have to leave the conversation. With a polite smile and a goodbye for now, new power couple Tommy and Kimberly headed off in the direction of the bar. 

Jason pulled Zack’s arm and walked in another direction to try and give them a bit of privacy. On the way Zack was sure to pick off some potstickers from an appetizer tray. “Fiancé!? What the hell was that?”

Zack popped a potsticker into his mouth at the wrong moment. He put a finger up, making Jason wait while he chewed and chewed before finally swallowing, “Tommy is dating  _ Kimberly Hart,  _ did you  _ see  _ her?” The firefighter shook his head, “That had to be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. The television doesn’t do her justice. God, I  _ had  _ to step up our game to even  _ compete  _ with that”

“This wasn’t a completion.” 

“Bullshit, your break up with Tommy  _ sucked.  _ I was there to pick your ass off the ground” he poked Jason’s chest, as if proving a point, “That guy broke your heart, and he was real quick to show off his new piece” 

Jason looked down to the masterpiece tiling on the ground, Zack  _ wasn’t  _ wrong. “What do we do?” 

“Have a little bit of a “long term engagement” and split up during the “planning of the wedding” piece of cake” Zack’s eyes brightened, “Can we throw an engagement party?”

_ “No”  _ They were not going to dupe people into giving them money or gifts. Conning their friends and family on the basis of a lie. “Just,  _ try  _ and keep this low key”

Easier said than done with a mouth like Zack’s. If he was going to play up the  _ engagement _ he was going to go all out and brag about it to everyone who stopped to talk to them. Oddly, to Jason’s observation, no one seems to be surprised that the pair of men were together. Only taken aback that they were on terms of engagement so early on.

The one who caught wind of their little engagement was Zack’s best friend in his station, Billy Cranston. He served as the head paramedic of their unit as opposed to going in and directly fighting fires. He was chatting up with medical examiner Noah Carver when Zack and Jason caught his eye, “Hey!” He paused, turning to his current company, “Excuse me for one minute” He stepped away from Noah in favor of greeting Zack with their signature handshake. “Rumor in the grapevine says that  _ you  _ got engaged! How was I not the first one to know? Where was my call?”

“We wanted to keep it low key” Zack laughed, using Jason’s words, “But now we’re ready to tell the world” 

Billy folded his arms and tilted his head, silently checking off boxes in his mind. Jason was strong, handsome as hell, modest, had a job...and could balance out some of Zack’s wilder impulses. All and all a good fit if he said so himself. Billy smiled, “So, I want to know details. You gotta at least give me that since you didn’t  _ call  _ me right away” 

Everyone simply congratulated them or said it was about time, no one really had the time to ask details. Since Billy was so invested in Zack, and would always be out watching his back, he wanted to know everything. 

“Well ah” 

“Jason was the one to propose” Zack quickly cut in, as Jason wasn’t the best with words. “He remembered the wing joint he took me to the day I got my job...we had dinner there” Zack looked over to Jason, a hint of a smile on his face at the original memory, “I’ll never forget the way I felt that day” 

With a sick mom, Zack didn’t finish high school and graduated with the rest of his class. He dropped out, and worked at jobs he hated just to keep food on the table. Retail, fast food, pizza delivery, sometimes all three. He hated it. He absolutely hated feeling trapped, he hated the way people would look at him when he said he worked at McDonalds. Full of judgement. It felt worse when he delivered pizzas to ex-classmates who had moved on to their fancy internships and nice jobs out of  _ college.  _ He didn’t have the means to make that kind of life work. 

He’d never forget the day the quarterback of the Angel Grove Tigers ordered a pizza and told Zack that he was in the police academy. Jason wasn’t as cracked up as everyone thought he was, popularity blinded people into thinking he was anything more than average. A C-student at best. Just enough to play football. He spoke of wanting to do something better for other people, to try and make a difference in someone else’s life. It inspired Zack to do something better for himself and apply to be a volunteer firefighter, working up from there. 

It was Jason, who took the time and celebrated Zack’s greatest accomplishment in his life. A job. A place in life that made him  _ feel  _ like he had meaning. He wasn’t going through the motions anymore, and he could always thank Jason for being there in his life to support him. Billy and Trini later became welcome additions, but for the longest time, it was just Zack and Jason with a chip on their shoulders. 

“I didn’t think much of it. We ate at that wing place all the time. I just thought Jason was reminiscing…” Jason watched intently as Zack continued to weave a story, “We took a walk along the pier. It wasn’t as crowded at night, so we could have a moment. Our moment. Jason’s not a flashy kind of guy. At the edge of the boardwalk, we could see the ocean. The stars out up the sky and over the mountains there was a full moon.”

Zack nudged Jason with his elbow, “He must’ve been waiting for the right day to get that detail down” He sighed, how could someone be so fond of a memory that didn’t even happen? “And that’s when he got down on one knee” He smiled, “Ah and it’s been a dream ever since”

“Wow” Billy looked like a kid who had his favorite bedtime story read to him, satisfied. “Who knew Scott was such a softie?” The cops on the Angel Grove force weren’t exactly known for being soft and cuddly. The paramedic couldn’t help but smile, he knew in his heart that these two were going to make it. “Ah I’m so happy for you guys!” Zack and Jason exchanged a glance, this right here was the reason Jason didn’t want to get too many people’s hopes up.

“We’re taking everything a bit slow” Jason put his hand out to calm the other man down, “This just happened, so, no rush. We wanted to spend the holidays together before all the planning starts”

“Oh of course, of course, of course” Billy shook his hand, completely understanding. The paramedic was all too excited, knowing and hoping that he would be chosen to be Zack’s best man for the occasion. Even in spirit if they chose to do a city hall paper signing. 

Jason reached for Zack’s hand, “Enjoy the party Billy, we’ll keep you updated on what we’re doing” He wanted to get the other man alone,  _ actually _ alone. No interruptions by ex’s or friends, or bosses and co-workers. Instead of finding a pocket or a corner, Jason pulled Zack outside to the steps of city hall. Lying about being engaged was quickly getting to him, there were too many people who ‘knew’ now and he needed to get some things off of his chest.

“Pretend Jason sounds pretty great” He said, once they were finally outside, “...That proposal…”

Zack put his hands in his pocket, looking up to the sky, “Too much? I tried to get the Jason Scott MO down” He was avoiding looking directly at the other man, to facing the feelings he had buried down for so long. “What? Please don’t tell me you’d propose at a  _ football game” _

Jason glanced down, he wasn’t very creative when it came to expressing himself. “That’s..not” He shook his head, “I’ve ah, I’ve been thinking” Jason rubbed the back of his neck, “You’ve always been there for me,  _ always,  _ but tonight...I feel something else, want something more.” He motioned inside the party, “...I want to be  _ those _ people we’re trying to pretend to be”

Wow, the police officer wasn’t great with his words. Zack tilted his head to the side, a playful grin on his face. He knew what Jason was  _ trying _ to say, that they have been dancing around for far too long. Jason was in a relationship with Tommy, Zack never seemed to find luck in love. Their timing was never right… “You asking me to marry you?”

The police officer couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, “I’m asking you to give me a shot” He was going to just come out and say it, “Let’s see if we can make this work” Everyone on the outside saw  _ something _ that they couldn’t, “I can’t be your fiance, but maybe I can be your boyfriend?”

“I think it’d be dumb if we let what we have slide by the wayside” Zack smirked, coming down the steps, undoing his tie along the way, “Can we blow this party? I’m  _ starving”  _

Jason sighed, Zack literally had been picking off appetizer trays all night. “How ‘bout wings?” He offered, “On me”

“Classy first date” Zack nudged Jason, wings and beer? He wouldn’t expect anything less. Jason reached his hand down to hold onto Zack’s, “....Wasn’t there something we were supposed to do?”

“I don’t think so…” Trini would just have to fend for herself when it came to her romantic struggle. 

Right now, Jason and Zack had a  _ lot _ of lost time to make up for.  


End file.
